R. Thorne

More small progress. Trial fit slicks. Seems ok. Glued inner fenders, radiator support, trans pan, and shifter on. I had forgotten how stringy the thick stuff from Hobbylobby was, so marked it on the bottle. I like the little gel tubes, but they don’t last very long. Succeeded in knocking the left side header off, while trial fitting the interior side panels. Started on roll bar.

Installed rear axle, shocks, and backing plates. Yes, I know, the car should have a Dana rear to hold up in contemporary racing, but, believe it or not, some guys like Jared Jordan, run an 8 3/4 rear end. Anyway, to expedite matters and move this build along, an 8 3/4 it is. Trans length was perfect and rear snapped right in. Sprayed some ts30 on some shifters. Driveshaft loop still needs to be added.

Glued and clamped sub frame on. Put alternator/pulley on. Realized steering box was not going to fit because of different headers. Shocker, right? lol. Changing one thing upsets something else on the build. Decided to cheat and cut the steering box off and installed shaft. Don’t tell anybody, lol.

Thanks, Keith. I had forgotten that, I guess, you have to strip the insulation from the wire core, to make boots.

Got the headers installed, finally. The left side fought me a bit. Just like 1:1 cars, I guess. Opened up the inner wheel hubs about .010” with 4 ascending size bits. This helps the wheels fit on the “spindle” much easier with less chance of breakage. I decided to use the wheels that came in the kit. Getting lazy, I guess.

Cut off the oem water pump. Touched it up with orange sharpie, then glued on aftermarket electric water pump. Couldn’t resist adding some Flysea chrome to the freeze plugs (even though the headers will probably totally obscure them).

In preparation for the electric water pump, cut off one of the pulleys and scratch built one side of the fan belt.

Painted some small parts and painted the headers for about the fourth time. Should have been ts30 first

Put some aftermarket shifters together. Some of the Plug wires are gonna have to be shortened (later).

How can you not use them if you care about engine appearance and don’t use an air cleaner? As for the back window fit, I am not there yet, but i definitely am going to look at it this weekend. Thank you.

Thanks, Tom. Good or bad reviews, comments, etc., are always appreciated. Put some Tamiya black wash on one of the carbs. Don’t know if I like the effect or not. May just leave one alone and install ‘em, then make a decision. Also, glued on the trans, leaving “chrome” pan off til later to keep from smudging it up.

Air cleaner decals?

A little engine work. Forgot what the black wire supplied with MAD ignition wires is for. Anyone tell me?

From amt Goodyear 9” scale tires to Hoosiers (1 tire with smaller Hoosier decal as I screwed up one of the large ones). Lesson learned: don’t use too hot water to dip decals in. Morganautomotivedetails 727 trans was the same length as the kit supplied stick shift trans. Sprayed housing with ts30 Tamiya and used Flysea chrome paint on pan.

Thanks, Niko. My 53 Olds Stocker I started with in the 60’s. Still think Stockers are way cool. Anyway, sometimes, 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards. Didn’t like the looks of the headers, so tried some different paint. Didn’t like the carb spacer appearance, so made a “gasket” from a business card and coated it with a marker.

Messing with the carbs today. Trying to emulate these on Todd Hoven’s. Put some flat aluminum on the base plate and some brown on a spacer plate I just got from MCV products. Although spacer plates are illegal in Stock Eliminator, I am hoping this will resemble the 1/2” thick gasket most guys use. Jury is still out.

Sprayed some ts87 on ‘em. Sorry for the crummy pictures.

Cut off a couple of those awesome fireballmodelworks carbs. Tried my jewelry saw first, but ended up with my great jlc saw like I did the last time I had to cut carbs off. The trick (that Chief Joseph suggests on his web site) is to cut halfway through, then, flip to the other side, to finish.

While that is drying, I put a couple of coats of that precious Modelmaster buffing stainless steel. We’ll see how that looks tomorrow. Oh, yeah, I cut off the collector flange and put some shrink tube on with super glue.

Put some Flysea chrome on, then sanded down some amt Goodyear slicks. Painted with rubber black, then semi gloss and decals. Let her dry with Microsol, then I’ll put some dull coat on tomorrow.

A lot of meticulous work there and paint way beyond my capabilities. I like the riveted appearing windows/windshields. Thanks for posting.

Cut the fuel tank off, replaced with sheet of styrene, painted with ts46 Tamiya light sand. Sprayed door panels, too. Also, sprayed some ts14 on the front of chassis and pedals.

Had to take some time off to reorganize the workbench area. Got tired of digging through drawers and put up some pegboards. Finally got a little bit done on the Caltrac bars. Had to shorten them (tedious going as they are very brittle and delicate) carefully as the kit springs are much shorter in the front.

Very well done. An obvious labor of love.